You may have spent the past few weeks complaining about premature Christmas ads and the fact that you can barely brush your teeth anymore without being confronted by Lily Allen’s cover of Somewhere Only We Know, but the month of December has now arrived, which means it’s time to lose the Scrooge talk and embrace the festive spirit.

Rather than flocking towards the folklore of the Christmas number one though – for the sanctity of that particular topic died long ago if it ever really existed – here at Brig Music we like to look even further than the 25th of the month, and get excited about the acts that will be entertaining our ear sockets on the flip side of Hogmanay.

At the top of our New Year lookout list is exciting French producer Tchami, who is bringing a new sound to the underground world of electronic dance music at the moment. You only need one listen of the artist’s Clubhouse EP to be blown away by the unique style of the new talent, who has fashioned a fantastically original sound through the addition of a sensual twang to a heavily booted baseline which is then let rip over some deep house.

On first hearing the producer’s Promesses, a track deploying sweetly placed flickers of synth before a monumental punch, it’s a stern challenge to remain seated and avoid the loss of your dignity on the dancefloor, at work, or wherever else you may be listening. Shot Caller follows suit with a powerhouse bass boasting Tchami’s signature sound in a driven and convincing number, and the Parisian’s remixes of AlunaGeorge’s ‘You Know You Like It’ and Janet Jackson’s ‘Go Deep’ continue the creative future sounds of the artist.

In a time when a trance driven competition to sacrifice progression in order to drop the heaviest bass seems to have taken over the world of EDM, Tchami is a breath of fresh air to all searching for a new kind of bass.

Where the likes of Avicii’s latest number Hey Brother features tedious and repetitive rhythms taken straight from a proven and increasingly worn formula, Tchami breaks through to the unheard in the genre, bringing a new kind of subversive sound. With Oliver Heldens following this leadwith upcoming release Gecko, the Frenchman’s style may well be the one to coin the next big move in the electronic scene as well. Certainly, the up and coming artist is one destined for big things and bigger venues.

On the hip-hop front, Odd Future man Earl Sweatshirt is a near certain musician to break through in the next twelve months.

The 19 year old lyricist has shown already that he can lay down some sick lyrics and has some big tunes to his name at the moment, with his debut album Doris dropping in August this year to a big reception all round.

The American rapper produced seven of his own fifteen album track list, and his release was one of the highest acclaimed to come out of the Odd Future set up.

To get a taste of the action, check out Hive, a smooth flowing vocal effort over a bass-driven back beat, Chum, a funky piano backing that lays the foundations for some sweet and smart lyrics from Earl, and Sunday, a fast moving effort with Frank Ocean that sees the duo explore their personal relationships in an interesting song.

The artist already has friends in high places – featuring on records not only with Ocean but also Mac Miller and Tyler, The Creator, and he could well be on a similar trajectory in the upcoming year to that which Kendrick Lamar has followed in 2012. Expect big things.

The name Kelela is another that may well become engraved in the minds of many a short while after the bells have rung at the end of December.

The debut effort of the artist took the critics by storm a few months back, with a cool mix of calm and classy electronic mixes meeting the rejuvenated R&B style of the singer to wonderous effect.

The performer, who originates from LA, brings a chilled out vibe that can switch effortlessly into a faster flowing, harder-hitting number, as can be seen in single Enemy.

A once jazz performer who is now on a fast-track to the chart life, Kelela is leading the lines of the R&B performers bringing the genre back to the forefront.

A few names to watch out for then in 2014, and a reminder that just when the advent calender is coming close to an end, there is still plenty more to look forward to.

Stuart Kenny

As published originally at: www.brignewspaper.com

After first being rejected by MIA’s record label for sounding “too positive” and after several threats from the artist to leak the album herself, Matangi finally found its way into the public eye last month after being initially due out a full twelve months ago.

Safe to say, any positivity that was once overwhelming in the record has now been stripped, and in its place remains a gritty, hypnotic street vibe with a constant undertone of in-your-face confidence.

Track after track the record offers up repetitive rhythms in a manner that flows effortlessly from one to the next, the chanting of the artist blasting distinctively and clearly over rolling drum beats, and futuristic soundings of synths and horns finding themselves mixed in unconventional manners with morphed back beats and avant-garde techniques.

This formula is relentless in the opening sounds of the album, and it isn’t until track five, Come Walk With Me, that it twists ever so slightly to take the experimental nature down a notch and add a slightly more conservative – yet still fairly novel – sounding. What finally comes out of this is a mix of pop, drum and bass and techno methods in a strangely addictive end product.

Following effort aTENTtion furthers the peculiar nature of the album, consistently emphasising the word ‘tent’ for three and a half minutes in what is clearly some kind of political or social statement that has gone a long way over this writer’s head.

Two features included with contribution from The Weeknd, Exodus and Sexodus, stay closer to the mainstream, with big bass in the distance meeting a ruffled house rhythm with a more than catchy rhythm, but all in all the record is far from the Sunday lunch norm.

Bring The Noize seems to define the album perfectly. The stuttering and shouting of random words to start off a number with fast chat from M.I.A meeting a beat including randomly creaking door sounds and a pretty catchy melody. Odd, but endearing and with a huge backing, much like the majority of the track list.

This is one album that will certainly not make for primetime listening around the Christmas table this winter, that’s for sure, but given the right ear and mindset, one that will no doubt become a firm favourite for some. An album made of marmite from M.I.A.

Stuart Kenny

As published originally at: www.brignewspaper.com

After a recent past that has included support gigs for Jake Bugg and Miles Kane, festival spots at Reading and Leeds and a spot on the London Evening Standard’s Power 1000 alongside Disclosure, Rudimental and Sir Mick Jagger, you would think that charismatic rocker Natalie Findlay might have some time for a break. Wrong.

“We were in France and Switzerland last week,” told the artist, who performs under the abbreviated title of ‘Findlay’. “I’ve not had a day off in about three weeks or something horrendous but it’s all part of the fun. Better that than working in fucking McDonalds.”

Certainly, the electric artist has barely had time to sleep never mind take a day off recently, with her latest EP Greasy Love released late last month and a string of British tour dates quickly following. Findlay had only finished a hectic rehearsal session when she took to the phone for this particular interview, yet the artist seemed characteristically vivacious throughout the conversation – a trait which carries through to the assertive nature of her rock n roll work.

Indeed, in Greasy Love we see an urgent, empowering sound develop around fuzzy, blaring vocals, while in FakeBlackHeart a slow, circling guitar riff morphs into a boisterous backing dominated by the distinctive and delightful Findlay. Black Cloud Single Lining meanwhile, the final song on the record, slows the pace down, highlighting the originality and versatility of the artist’s work.

She continued: “I’m working on another EP just now and I’m still experimenting with which sound I want to commit to for an album. I will probably have done about three EPs by the time the actual album comes out but I’m still trying to find the sound that I want. I’m going to keep messing around and see how certain things sound and work with different producers.

“For Greasy Love I recorded and rerecorded and it became a kind of labour of love to get it finished. FakeBlackHeart I had had for a little bit and I thought that those two tracks went together well. The B side Black Cloud Silver Lining I wrote a couple of months ago about a break up – I played the track to the guy and he didn’t get it and then a week after I recorded it I left,” Findlay laughed. “The song was actually the demo and I didn’t want to fuck with the sound of it because it was so raw and we did it all in one take.

“My writing is constantly evolving though. For Black Cloud Silver Lining I knew what I wanted for the subject matter since it was so close to my heart, but that made it easy and difficult at the same time because you’ve got to be really honest with yourself which kind of hurts.

“It was a relief to get that emotion out and it was quite a painful one to write but I thought that the tracks seemed to fit together well, and the remix as well. We had a couple of remixes done of Greasy Love and the TYTHE one was my favourite so we put it on the EP.

“[The EP] was really a struggle for me. I wanted to release it on vinyl as well but I didn’t want to push the release date. It was just a fucking palaver to get it done but it’s out there now which is kind of a relief.”

It wasn’t just the music side of things that Findlay was worried with in the run up to the release of Greasy Love either. An electrifying music video accompanied the release of the title track, and the artist was keen to remark on her positive time with director Ruffmercy, with whom she worked to construct the emotive, supernatural-esk production.

“I’ve been a massive fan of the videos of Ruffmercy for ages,” she continued. “He’s been doing videos with Danny Brown and Blue Daisy and I just thought ‘fuck, wouldn’t it be cool if he did a video for me’, but I’m not the kind of artist he would usually go for. I sent him the track though and we met up a couple of times and he was really cool and said ‘yeah, let’s do something’.

“We shot it over September and it was fucking freezing. It was a really long and cold shoot but the results were great so I’m happy with that.”

With the Greasy Love EP now done and dusted the quirky artist admits she will be glad to get back out on the road, remarking casually on her pre-show rituals of listening to Return of the Mack and slamming ‘a few shots of whiskey’.

The hard working artist will have a lengthy list of plans that are ready and waiting for the turn of the year too, and if she continues to impress with her fresh brand of music, it could well be a future that will prove even more busy and even for bountiful for the talented Natalie Findlay.

Stuart Kenny

As published originally at: www.brignewspaper.com

Sometimes you just need to kick back and let the bassline take control after a week of hard work in the library, or a long week of procrastination if you’re immersing yourself properly in the student lifestyle. Either way, what better time to do so than on a Friday night in the Scottish capital, and what better conductor for the task than Radio One queen Annie Mac.

The Annie Mac Presents tour flowed into Edinburgh late last month, bringing with it the abundance of expectation it now carries to provide an elegant explosion of electronic dance music attached from so many successful showdowns before.

The air of anticipation gave the old Edinburgh Picture House a buzzing feel that was quickly picked up by funky house producer Duke Dumont, who started the proceedings early and set a telling tone for the night with soulfully sweet melodies overseen by big bad basslines.

UK chart topper Need U (100%) established the credentials of the sound system were certainly in check, pounding out the irresistible blend of 90s house music and modern day trance to draw the crowd to the dance floor early and ensure the five hour session would be hard hitting the whole way through.

Co-writer of that aforementioned Duke Dumont hit MNEK was on stage to back up the producer with some fresh vocals, but it was the bouncy bassline of The Giver that most notably gave a turbo-boost to the dance floor motions, with party-goers flying onto shoulder tops and producing the camera phones to chant the anthemic lyrics of the summer sensation.

Closing on his soft, progressive remix of HAIM’s Falling, Duke left a solid set to allow Lulu James to take over, the London singer mixing it up with her original style of electronic soul; cool, crisp and consistently heavy with deep bass. Certainly no rest for the entertained then, other than the half-hour odd wait for a drink of course, and the securing of a long-lasting mortgage to afford said beverage.

Chill master Cyril Hahn was up next with his brand of expressive house, oozing a clean, laidback vibe with numbers Perfect Form and Raw Cut – the latter of which grabs for a particularly juicy bassline – yet with a more relaxed vibe to his music than his predecessors, there was a case to be had for perhaps swapping the set times of Dumont and Hahn to add a more natural progression to the night.

Regardless, the ambience and sound waves mechanically hit full throttle when the awesome Annie Mac arrived on decks, pumping out a variety of deep, deep house tunes and letting loose a higher quantity of bass than a stick of dynamite in the North Pacific Ocean.

The buzz created when the signature curls of the innovator were seen was a credit to the status of Mac in the modern industry, and the DJ did not disappoint, dropping the likes of Friend Within’s The Renegade alongside more diverse tracks including a Rudimental live lounge cover of White Noise – with the help of MNEK – to form a warm and wonderful complete house session that brought a truly pioneering style to the Scottish capital.

A massive success from the constantly impressive Mac all-in-all, and one filled with more than enough talent and diversity to make the five hour duration of the event fly by quick as you like.

Stuart Kenny

As published originally at: www.brignewspaper.com

From the early days of Bring Me The Horizon to their present day widespread success, this Sheffield five-piece have always been one to polarise popular opinion.

The release of their latest album Sempiternal was no exception to this rule. There were the fan critics who lamented the synthetic nature of the new work and the tamed progression of the album, and the enthusiastic majority who hailed the accessibility of the record and progression of lead vocalist Oli Syke’s now deafening roar.

This latter point was one that was emphatically on show as the English crew got their UK tour off to a start in Glasgow, and there was far from any sign that the grouping have given up on their metalcore roots in the live performance.

The sell out crowd was already wildly warmed up after a stylish showing from support act Pierce The Veil, and the Bring Me The Horizon crew made sure they didn’t let this atmosphere fall as they came out to big early rendition of Can You Feel My Heart, Shadow Moses and old favourite Chelsea Smile.

The former superbly combined irresistible synthetic work with anthemic drum beats and smooth vocals from Sykes before lead single Shadow Moses hypnotised the crowd into a sing-a-long build up climaxing in a bulking break down that, accompanied by heavy blasts of smoke from the stage, shook the Scottish venue to its very core. Sykes got a chance to really go all on this number, conveniently so before heavy pastime Chelsea Smile kicked in, a number received with delight by the men in the mosh pit.

The set up continued in similar vein from here on out. Sempiternal features And the Snakes Start to Sing and The House of Wolves demonstrated the range on offer in the band’s latest production; melodic guitar work impressing through certain parts while banging breakdowns and anthemic scream-a-long choruses took over in others.

The mix between past and present Bring Me continued through to the end however, to the delight of the audience. Cult 2008 track Diamonds Aren’t Forever let the crowd go almost as wild as the men who unleashed it on stage – Sykes first conducting a calm crowd who then burst into what had become a familiar moshing madness as soon as the lyrics kicked in. 2010 favourite Blessed With a Curse received a late airing also, tying in the gang vocals of the charismatic frontman with weighted, harmonious guitar riffs that highlighted the talent of Sykes on the chorus.

It was the second single to come from Sempiternal that would close the concert though. Sleepwalking was sounded and sent immediate shockwaves around the crowd. Sykes could have stayed silent throughout and each word would still have been heard clearly, but the lead put in a big final shift in front of the giant glowing initials ‘BMTH’.

Confetti fell from the roof to meet this frantic finale and put an end to a performance perfectly emphatic in everything it wanted to do. A concert not for the faint hearted, but one that provided every ounce of mayhem that the majority of Bring Me The Horizon fans would be pining to see.

Stuart Kenny

As published originally at: www.brignewspaper.com

“We really appreciate you all turning out tonight,” confessed Deaf Havana frontman James Veck-Gilodi in front of a packed out HMV Picture House. “The last time we came to Edinburgh I think there were about 30 fans there.”

Certainly, a lot has changed for rock six-piece Deaf Havana since they last travelled to the Scottish capital in 200?. The band transfigured their early post-hardcore sound into an alt-rock set up with Worthless Fools and Liars in 2010, and followed that transition with the release of new record Old Souls, a smash success sampling everything from rock and blues to soul and jazz.

The evolution of the group’s sound has seen them become definitively defined as one of the most musically pure artists around, and this organic nature translated effervescently onto the live stage in Edinburgh.

Opening with Old Souls' lead single Boston Square, the band set off to a storming start. With their natural sound tag so important to the group, a certain sentiment of pressure can arise on the Englishmen to shine on the stage, and they did not disappoint. Striking guitar chords launched the opener with an extended intro before Veck-Gilodi introduced his trademark vocals; rough and raw with a tentative touch.

A generous selection of songs from the group’s latest two albums followed, with upbeat Old Souls tracks Everybody’s Dancing And I Want to Die and Tuesday People wedged between past favourites Little White Lies and I Will Try. The former couplet worked again to promote the smart development and versatility of their recent release, the latter two cuing mass sing-a-longs with progressive rock beats featuring irresistible hooks, quick string work and a big shift from drummer Tom Ogden.

What would follow though would be a further match up of new and old tracks to emphasise beyond all doubt the perfectly unpolluted personality in the work of Deaf Havana. First, hit classic The Past Six Years was sounded, with sweet acoustic guitar melodies meeting meaningful lyrics and veracious vocals to sing them. Next, Saved – a top trump Old Souls – was floated around the venue, with lead guitarist Chris Pennells caressing the strings of his instrument in a manner many would have thought lost to the likes of Phil Lynott. There should never have been any doubt regarding the ability of Deaf Havana, but if there was, this dynamic double could have convinced the most sceptical of critics of the group’s pure innovative brilliance. It is at times like this that the group are at their best.

An interesting final third of the hour plus set followed, with a heavy rendition of Anaemophobia preceding a cool cover of The Cure’s Friday I’m In Love and the anthemic Hunstanton Pier closing out the regular concert. Aging favourite I’m A Bore Mostly set the crowd alight on the encore, with the well known riffs and lyrics rebounding back to the stage as the audience put their lungs into use.

A superbly memorable set which lived up to every expectation accompanying the natural styling tag of Deaf Havana.

An abundance of critical praise awaited the release of Old Souls, the third studio album released from difficult-to-define English six-piece Deaf Havana.

The once pop-punk outfit have been persistently progressing their sound ever since dropping Meet Me Halfway, At Least, their debut album, in 2009. After adding an indie-folk edge to their music in the wonderful Fools and Worthless Liars two years later, the group came back with the organic awe of Old Souls in September, a magnificent mix of musical purity that features nods to the rock, indie, blues, folk and even jazz genres by the end of the twelve song tracklist.

With a bold movement made to a reel packed with untested material, some may have expected a subsequent jumble of half-hearted, ungenre specific songs to make up the bulk of the band’s latest release, yet this ignorant statement could not be further from the truth. Old Souls is rather a brilliant blend of styles connected with the signaturely autobiographical lyrics of the group and irresistibly organic nature of their matured production.

For James Veck-Gilodi, the front man of what is now of the biggest bands on the British rock scene, the recently released album is the result of a sound evolution goal set long ago.

“It was a sound that we’ve always wanted to go for,” he said. “I guess after ‘Meet Me Halfway, At Least’ we couldn’t just change our sound that much, so it has been a progression. Saying that though, it’s all pretty natural. It’s not as though we sat down and said ‘I want this album to sound exactly like this’, it just naturally happened.

“When me and my brother [Matt Veck-Gilodi, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist] were writing it we were coming up with all these different sounding songs, but we didn’t exactly say ‘that song doesn’t fit in let’s not use it’, we just put it in anyway. It is kind of an experiment but I think it worked.

“The reception has been ridiculous – I never expected it to be as good as it has been. I was pretty worried about how it would be received because it is quite different but the response has been amazing.”

A defining factor of the Deaf Havana experience is the anti-autotune attitude that has established the band as one of the most musically pure, natural artists currently on the scene. Veck-Gilodi was keen to emphasise that this, along with the deeply personal nature of his lyrics, is indeed among the most important components that goes into any new work from the group.

“I think there’s too many bands around that are doing it for the wrong reasons and too much music around that is just awful,” continued the vocalist. “We’re trying to be as honest and natural as we possibly can and hopefully people will take notice of that.”

“[The autobiographical style] is just naturally how I write songs, but also I like people to be able to understand exactly what the song is about without having to look into too much. I always like to keep it quite literal and plain... well not plain, but you know what I mean! It’s just the natural way for me to write lyrics though – a lot of bands that I listened to and admire have the same kind of style.

“This time around me and brother wrote the songs in my house and just start off with an acoustic guitar, and then we’d do a really crap demo of it on his laptop. After that’d we’d send it off and when we went into the studio to actually record it everybody would put their own spin on it and turn it into the actual song. It’s pretty simple, natural writing.”

With a new album comes the announcement of the biggest British headline tour to date for the group who have gone from promising potentials to proven critical hits in recent years. After supporting Bruce Springsteen and Muse in the past few months the band will certainly not be rusty for their live stage return, and Veck-Gilodi admits he is relishing the prospect of getting back on the road.

He continued: “[Springsteen and Muse] were both ridiculous. It was pretty weird because we’re not used to playing to such huge crowds like that, so it was pretty scary. It was awesome though too, because the people there weren’t fans of our band so we had to win them over and it was a challenge but really enjoyable.”

“I can’t wait to get going on the tour. We’ve had the new songs for quite a while so to be able to play them live will be so good. We haven’t really done a tour in ages so it’ll be nice to get back out and play. We can’t wait.”

Stuart Kenny

As published originally at: www.brignewspaper.com

Sleeping With Sirens arrived to what was no doubt a comparatively small crowd for the American rock outfit on the Edinburgh leg of their British Feel tour last weekend, but there was nothing remotely undersized about their live performance.

Although the Edinburgh support did not quite pack the spacey HMV Picture House in the same way many of the other sell out cities will have crowded their venues, there was still a decent show-out, and those present were treated to a shredding showing of breakdowns and rattling riffs, not to mention the impressively versatile vocals of Kellin Quinn.

This referred to front man arrived on stage to a predictable chorus of deafening screams before kicking off the set with the appropriately named Here We Go.

The opener spared no time in unleashing heavy guitar and bass backings that would become a recurring theme of the concert, really bringing out an instrumental prominence in recently released album Feel that was more notably subdued in the studio recording.

Indeed, if sections of the group’s support had lamented the Americans’ transition from a post-hardcore past to a more radio-rock sound in their latest album, the band quickly moved to dispel any concerns that they had moved away from their roots.

Matty Mullins feature Congratulations followed on the set list, further highlighting the musical purity of the band with a string-splitting solo from lead guitarist Jack Fowler, and heavier tracks The Best There Ever Was and These Things I’ve Done saw the band play hard on beats which perfectly progressed to banging breakdowns.

Quinn’s vocals were particularly memorable throughout meanwhile, and will have left the biggest impression on the minds of those in attendance. The adaptability of the artist really is remarkable; his sweet tuning shown off in soft renditions of If I’m James Dean, You’re Audrey Hepburn and other features from the band’s 2012 acoustic EP, and the raw range of the vocalist unleashed in various other efforts, most prominently past favourite A Trophy Father’s Trophy Son, in which Quinn switches effortlessly from tuneful tones to a stylish scream at the flick of a switch.

Fans may have been disappointed with the group’s decision to omit big singles Feel and Alone from the set list, but an encore calling of signature song If You Can’t Hang was enough to appease anyone in that mindset and cap off an impressive performance with a mass rock out.

A successful showing made predominantly pleasing by the versatility of the five-piece outfit and their captivating lead singer in particular.

Stuart Kenny

As published originally at: www.brignewspaper.com